HE OPENED UP

MAYA

The heavy silence in the bedroom was suffocating, thicker than the stench of copper and dried blood that still clung to my memories. I sat on the edge of the mattress, my hands buried in my hair, staring blankly at the dark wooden floor. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lucas falling.

Lucas’s death was a mistake.

Did I love him? No. Did I want him dead? Still no. He was my half-brother, a constant reminder of the betrayal that had ripped my family apart years ago. His mother, Maria, had destroyed my father. She had manipulated, lied, and schemed until our family lost the throne that was rightfully ours. For years, I carried a deep, burning hatred for Lucas because of what his mother did. But deep down, in the quiet corners of my mind, I knew it was wrong to hate him for crimes committed before he was even born. He didn't choose his mother.

What I could never forgive, however, was how he allowed himself to be used. He let Maria turn him into a pawn, a weapon aimed directly at my wife, Maya. That was where I drew the line. Anyone who threatened Maya became my enemy.

That night, I hadn't gone to that abandoned warehouse to take his life. I only went to warn him. I took a gun with me, intending to press it against his chest, look into his eyes, and threaten him enough to make him back away from Maria’s twisted games once and for all. I wanted to scare him. I wanted him to understand that touching Maya meant crossing a line he wouldn't survive.

I remember holding the gun, the cold metal heavy in my palm. I remembered shouting at him, the fear and shock in his eyes. But I didn't pull the trigger. I know I didn't.

Before I could even lower the weapon, a sharp, muffled pop echoed from behind me. A silencer. Lucas's eyes went wide, his body jerked backward, and then he collapsed onto the cold concrete floor like a puppet with its strings cut. He dropped dead right in front of me before I could even process what was happening.

And then, like a ghost waiting in the shadows, Maria appeared.

She stepped out from behind the rusted steel pillars, a cruel, triumphant smile stretching across her face. She held up her phone, screen facing me, and played a video clip. The angle was devilishly precise. From where the camera stood, it looked entirely like I had raised the gun and shot him point-blank. It captured my anger, my raised hand, and his sudden fall—completely masking the unseen shooter in the shadows behind me.

"I can make this go away, Edward," Maria’s voice had been smooth as silk, dripping with venom. "I will protect you from the Pack Council. But you have to get another breeder. And you must send Maya away forever."

Her condition was a death sentence to my soul.

In our pack, an Alpha’s law is absolute. Killing an enemy or a traitor is not a crime for an Alpha. But killing your own family? That is a sacrilege. The ancient laws were set in stone centuries ago so brothers and sisters wouldn't murder each other out of jealousy or fight to the death for the throne. If the council saw that video, if the pack believed I murdered my own half-brother, the punishment was absolute: banishment. Stripped of my title, cast out into the wild, separated from everything I knew.

For days, I had been carrying this crushing weight alone, letting Maria’s threats push me into a corner. I had been distant, cold, and quiet, watching Maya from afar while my heart bled out in silence.

Maya was my sanctuary. In a world full of blood, duty, and endless power struggles, she was the only place where I felt at peace. Looking at her, I didn't see the pack hierarchy, the throne, or Maria’s poison. I saw purity. I saw safety.

A quiet knock at the door broke through the storm in my head. The door creaked open, and Maya stepped into the bedroom.

She looked so small standing in the doorway, wearing one of my oversized shirts, her soft brown hair tumbling over her shoulders. But her dark eyes were filled with a sharp, guarded sadness that pierced right through me.

"Edward?" her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, yet it cut through the room like thunder. "Are you going to talk to me today? Or are you going to keep pretending I don't exist?"

I looked up at her, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Maya..."

"Don't 'Maya' me," she said, stepping further into the room and crossing her arms over her chest. "You've been acting like a stranger for a week. You avoid my touch. You barely look at me. And yesterday... yesterday I heard rumors, Edward. The pack is whispering. And Maria is telling people that you had something to do with it. What is going on?"

I stood up slowly. My legs felt like lead. I walked over to her, stopping just a foot away. I wanted to reach out, to wrap my arms around her waist and hide my face in the crook of her neck, but I didn't know if I had the right to anymore.

"Maya, please. Sit down," I pleaded softly.

"No, Edward. Tell me the truth right now. Is there anything you would love to say to me, maybe about Lucas, about Clara did you do something to Lucas?" Her eyes searched mine, desperate for reassurance, desperate for me to say no.

And in that moment, as I looked deep into her dark, expressive eyes, a sudden wave of memory hit me. I saw it—the exact same innocence, the fierce loyalty, the unspoken bond. I saw my dear Philomena in those eyes. The pure soul I had sworn to protect with my life. I couldn't lie to her. I couldn't keep her in the dark while Maria spun her web around us.

If we were going to survive this, if I was going to fight Maria and keep my throne, I needed Maya. Maybe... maybe if I told her everything, we could fight it together.

"I didn't kill him, Maya," I began, my voice shaking slightly. "But... he is dead."

Maya gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "What?"

"Listen to me, please," I stepped closer, taking a deep breath as the words rushed out of me like a broken dam. "Lucas is dead. But I didn't pull the trigger. I went to see him that night because he was helping Maria scheme against you. He was putting you in danger, Maya, and I couldn't allow that. I took a gun to threaten him, to make him back off. I swear on my life, I only wanted to scare him!"

Maya stared at me, her chest heaving, tears welling up in her eyes. "Edward... what are you saying?"

"I had the gun pointed at him, yes," I continued, the memory making my chest tighten. "We were arguing. But then someone else shot him from behind with a silencer. He fell dead right in front of me. Before I could even understand what happened, Maria walked out. She had recorded the whole thing from an angle that makes it look like I pulled the trigger."

"Maria..." Maya whispered, horror creeping into her tone.

"She gave me an ultimatum," I said, my voice cracking under the emotional weight. "She said she would hide the evidence and keep the pack from finding out, but only if I banish you. Only if I send you away and take another female to breed an heir. She knows the pack law, Maya! If the elders see that video, they will call it fratricide. They will banish me, strip me of the Alpha status, and leave our pack in Maria's hands!"

I reached out, my trembling fingers brushing against her arms. "I couldn't tell you because I was trying to protect you! But I can't keep this secret from you anymore. I feel at peace only with you, Maya. Please... look at me. I didn't kill him. We can figure this out together. We can fight Maria together."

I searched her face, praying for understanding, praying for her to reach out and hold me, to tell me we would get through this storm as we always did.

For a second, there was total silence. Maya just stood there, staring at me as if I were a stranger. Her eyes, which had always looked at me with warmth and adoration, were suddenly cold, filled with a terrifying mixture of disbelief and betrayal.

"You... you went there with a gun?" she whispered, her voice dangerously quiet.

"Maya, I was trying to protect you—"

"You took a gun to your own brother!" she suddenly shouted, tears finally spilling over her cheeks. "You went there with a weapon, Edward! You stood there with a gun pointed at his chest!"

"I didn't shoot him!" I tried to grab her hand, but she violently pulled back.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed, taking a quick step away from me. "You brought a gun to threaten him! You brought violence into it, and now he is dead! And instead of coming to me, instead of being honest from the start, you've been carrying this dark lie, letting his mother blackmail you about replacing me!"

"I rejected her offer! I would never replace you!" I yelled back, desperate, my heart sinking into a dark abyss as I saw the distance growing between us.

"It doesn't matter!" Maya sobbed, shaking her head in utter disbelief. "You kept this from me! You went behind my back, pointed a gun at your family, and now you're dragged into a murder plot! I don't even know who you are right now, Edward!"

"Maya, please, just listen to me—"

"No!"

With a strong, furious push, her hands slammed against my chest, shoving me back. The physical force was nothing, but the emotional blow shattered what was left of my composure.

She turned around, wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand, and marched toward the door.

"Maya! Don't leave!" I called out, taking a step toward her.

She didn't stop. She didn't even look back.

"Stay away from me, Edward," she said, her voice trembling with raw pain as she stepped out into the hallway.

The heavy oak door slammed shut behind her, the loud bang echoing through the empty room, leaving me standing alone in the cold silence of my own undoing.